But I Do
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: How about that trailer, huh? I was going to write this and wait to publish until TROS comes out, to then include details from the final movie. But those leaks... and I just couldn't wait. Please read, review and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Breath of Life

**Chapter 1: Breath of Life**

His muscles were burning as, with a mighty heave, Ben Solo hauled himself out of the pit and back onto the rocky plain on Exogol where his final battle with Palpatine had occurred. The air was hauntingly still, the craggy throne ghostly deserted. At its base was a handful of empty robes and the broken blade of the Shikkar dagger. Ben had not been the one to plunge the ancient Sith assassination weapon into the Emperor before being yeeted off a cliff. The last thing he had seen was Rey's horrified face.

Only the Force Bond had saved him, sending him through a void to land safely back at the Second Death Star ruins on Kef Bir. Desperate, he had somehow managed to concentrate until Rey appeared, fighting something still invisible to him, but the Emperor, no doubt. With that, Ben had stepped back through the void to the bottom of the dark pit.

There had barely been room to stand amidst the stalagmites at his feet, and Ben was almost tempted to Force leap back up. But he might lose the advantage that way. So he had proceeded to climb, hand over hand, in the dark, with the Force as his guide to find safe handholds and footholds. He was fast, and only just careful enough, finding speed more valuable than precise accuracy to rejoin his love. All the while, he could hear lightning crackling, the Emperor's cackles and Rey's cries.

Then, twin screams, and all sound ceased. Panicked, Ben moved faster, until he found himself where he was now, forcing himself into a kneeling position as he observed the broken Sith blade. The blade that Rey must have destroyed the Emperor with...

Rey! Whipping his head around, he saw her body lying prone several yards away from him. Ben crawled over frantically and cradled her in his arms. She was small, adorably petite, in his large calloused hands. Her eyes were lidded, and she looked to be almost sleeping. The beauty of her physique was countered only by her head lolling to one side, and a thin trail of blood trickling from her mouth.

"No..." Ben croaked. Resting his ear against her breast, he listened for a heartbeat. He found none. Seizing her wrist, he checked for a pulse beneath his fingers, though perhaps it was redundant. Still nothing. Yet, her skin was still warm... It would cool fast though. Not unless he did something.

His memory suddenly seized on what Rey had done when they were dueling aboard the Second Death Star ruins. After stabbing him clean through with his grandfather's lightsaber, she had used the Force to heal him. A Jedi wielding mastery over healing powers... heretofore unheard of, but... was it possible a reformed Sith could heal too? Ben had heard the stories now, of how the Sith had sought immortality, the ability to keep others from dying. In the Emperor and later Vader's view, it had been for power. But for love...

Ben placed a hand on Rey's stomach, and willed himself to concentrate. The Force found him quickly and he gave it his orders.

_Please... please bring her back... _

For a time, he could not tell if anything was happening. And then -

Rey's skin... after only just beginning to feel cool to the touch... was suddenly growing _warmer_...

Underneath his palm, Ben felt muscles move with the rise and fall of Rey's chest. Hardly daring to believe, he opened his eyes.

"Uhhhh..." Rey's head was turning as, with a groan, her eyes fluttered open. Her gaze fixing on him, she smiled weakly. "Ben...?"

He couldn't help it. He kissed her. He sipped from her lips greedily even as they froze in complete shock against his. Cradling her head, he lifted her face closer, closer still, kissing Rey's lips again and again. When he finally sprang back, he nearly laughed at the beautifully stunned look on Rey's face.

"Did... did you just...?"

Ben grinned stupidly and brought his face close to hers. "You talk too much," he chuckled. And before she could say anything further, he kissed her again. To his great relief, Rey did not push him away...


	2. Chapter 2: Learning Each Other

**Chapter 2: Learning Each Other**

When the readouts appeared on the scanners after coming out of hyperspace, Finn groaned.

"Why, in Maker's name, does everybody want to go back to _kriffin_' Jakku?"

Beside him in the pilot's seat, Rose huffed. "If you took time to read the scanner, you would see it isn't Jakku. It's a sister desert planet..."

"I know how to read a scanner, woman! And I don't care what it's called! If it has sand, I want no part of it!"

Ben wandered up from the captain's quarters. "I don't like sand either, FN-2187. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere."

"Exactly!" Finn grinned triumphantly at his girlfriend, his case rested. Then, remembering that he had just agreed with Kylo Ren, of all people, he felt the need to remind both men of their prerequisite animosity. "And that's _Finn_ to you! You're lucky you are even wandering about. Rey is almost too compassionate a person..." It had been quite a shock for Rey to come back alive with Kylo Ren, and insist that no harm was to come to him. She had even leveled her lightsaber at the Resistance to get her point across, and ever since, had become paranoid in her determination to never let... _Ben_ out of her sight. Finn still didn't know what was up with that, or the almost affectionate tone that appeared in Rey's voice every time she said Ben's name.

"Concentrate!" Rose snapped him out of his thoughts. "We don't want those tow lines to snap! Coming into atmosphere..."

She guided the Corellian Corvette into the planet's airspace, guiding behind it the miraculously still intact _Millennium Falcon_. It was a shell of the ship it had once been, and had taken heavy, heavy damage in the final battle against the remnants of the Empire. Touching down amidst the dunes, Rose ensured their cargo landed upright as well. Finn unstrapped from his seat, turning to Ben.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Asleep. I'll go wake her," and Ben trotted off to the captain's quarters before Finn could do it himself.

The group met Lando, Chewie and Beaumont as they came off the _Falcon_. Looking the ship over, Finn tsked. But the hope in him refused to die, as he said, "Well, maybe we can fix her up. Make her fly again!"

Looking up from the compressors, Beaumont shook his head. "She'll never fly again," he pronounced bitterly.

Finn's face fell, even as Lando tottered over and ruffled his hair. "You know," the old man observed, "It's just a ship."

Ben and Rey now joined them (and, Finn observed with a concerned heart, holding hands). "It was more than that," Ben said sadly. "It was home."

"For me too," Rey murmured despondently. Then she brightened. "Maybe it still could be! People live in old hulls of ships all the time. My first place was an overturned AT-AT! Besides, any planet - even this one - is a step up from Jakku."

"Yeah, a baby step," Finn snorted.

Rey ignored him. "We're setting up the Army of the Organa Republic here, per Leia's wishes..."

"...Which is a stupid plan," Finn interrupted. "What possible livelihood could we hash out on a desert rock?"

"A simple one, if you use your imagination," Rey countered. "And for me, I'm looking for something simpler than the year we've just had. Ben and I are going to establish our Skywalker Academy here - between that and Army Headquarters, Tatooine could get some new life!" She sprinted up the _Falcon_'s gangplank. "I call dibs!"

Smiling after her, Ben followed. He hardly seemed to register that this was the first time he had stepped foot on his father's ship in years. If Rey wanted this to be her home, well then...

The interior was just as he remembered it. A little sparse, perhaps, but nothing a little decoration couldn't fix. Ben peered in each nook and cranny, listening to Rey tidying stuff up behind him. He climbed down into the gunner's port - the ladder needed some polishing, and the gunner seat would have to be reupholstered. Perhaps the turret cannons could still find some use in its second life, to ward off annoying neighbors come to call. Privacy... that is what Ben was anticipating, especially with Rey...

Scaling back upstairs, Ben gave it one last look over before noticing that sound behind him had quieted.

"Why did you kiss me?" Rey's voice was soft and he glanced back, to see her holding a broom and peering at him strangely.

The look Ben sent her was smoldering. "You know why."

She glanced away, running her fingers through her long, chestnut hair. "Yes, I know. Somehow... I've always known."

Her gaze returned to his as Ben strode forward and put his arms around her. Rey's hands glided up his forearms.

"Hi," he murmured.

Setting the broom down, Rey gulped, her voice coming out in a chirpy squeak. "Hi."

They kissed tentatively. Rey stepped out of it with a shuddering breath, but then she embraced him and their lips met again, surer this time. Tongues found each other as mouths opened and soon Rey and Ben were kissing with fervor. Rey closed her eyes dreamily. She had never been kissed like this. Kriff, until Exogol, she had never been kissed before _at all_. When they finally broke apart, Ben laughed when he saw Rey looking both absolutely thunderstruck and scandalized. "All right. No more kissing. I'll leave you to decorate."

"No!" Rey yelped, grabbing for his hand. She met his eyes shyly. "Stay after supper tonight. Stay... forever."

Ben smirked as she guided him over to the large double bed. She was staring down at the mattress with an odd, flustered fixation. "I know only married people share a bed, but..."

Ben's smile broadened. "What are you asking me, Rey?"

"I'm asking you to share my bed with me." She bravely gazed up into his face, refusing to allow her voice to falter. "I'm asking you to live with me. I'm... asking you to marry me. Someday." Rey peered at him searchingly. "Will you marry me, Ben?"

Dipping his head, Ben lightly captured her lips with his. "Yes. To all of it."

And so, after supper that night, Rey and Ben climbed into bed together. Not once did their eyes leave each other's. Opening the crook of his arm, Ben invited Rey to crawl up against his side and fall into a blissful sleep with her head on his chest.

The next morning, the lovers woke up well rested. "How did you sleep, my darling?" Ben asked.

Rey grinned. "Well, let me put it this way: you are never sleeping without me again."

* * *

**8 Months Later**

The sky was an inky navy, in its last waning minutes from deep night, when Ben called upon the Force to wake him. Stealing from the bed he and Rey shared aboard the _Falcon_, Ben quietly dressed. Readying his rucksack, he tossed it over his shoulder, then clipped his lightsaber to his belt. He didn't mind so much the missions that Finn assigned him on behalf of the Army, or that his load was heavier than those of, say, Beaumont or Jannah. Ben recognized that the work he did for the Organa Republic was part of his penance. A glorified community service, which was still better than serving a life sentence in some cell.

The sentence he had been remanded to instead was almost too good to be true.

Glancing back at the double bed, he observed Rey cocooned in sleep, her body strewn across the mattress and bathed in moonlight from the porthole windows. The curtains she had picked out were simple in taste, but did almost nothing to keep the light from coming in. Rey had told him they were both early to rise anyway, but still... some fabric more homey in nature might be nice. He'd ask her about it when he returned.

And he _would_ return, he vowed. Whereas Ben viewed his missions with an understanding ambivalence, Rey did not. Each and every time he was away, she fretted for his safety. The Force Bond, when it was safe to use, did little to assuage her fears.

Leaning over the bed, Ben dared his lips to brush her cheek, then her mouth. Smiling softly, he whispered, "I love you."

Rey just mumbled something unintelligible as she stirred, but did not wake.

Allowing himself one last look, Ben scaled the ladder to the top hatch through which his Uncle Luke had once been rescued off Bespin. It was a quieter exit than lowering the gangplank and he didn't want to rouse his lover. Then, making for his X-wing, Ben slipped off into the night.


	3. Chapter 3: Get an Education

**Chapter 3: Get an Education**

"X-Wings ahoy!"

"Come about!"

"Move it, you lazy rats! Prepare ground control for landing!"

The AOR (Army of the Organa Republic) Headquarters on Tatooine came alive like a hive of bees one Sunday morning, rousing Rey from her dreams. It was the day of rest for the young Jedi, a break from her work preparing the construction for the Skywalker Academy that would soon be housed here, so she could afford to sleep in on a morning like this.

Sleep in and dream of Ben...

It was awful, truly awful, when he was away, often for weeks at a time. Usually, days would go by between sightings through the Force Bond. In those all-too-brief moments alone together, Rey would often beg her true love to let her teleport through the Bond to wherever he was, so she could sleep beside him on the moors of whatever planet he was stationed on. In a way, that would be better than returning to a half-empty bed on the _Falcon_ each night, without his arms around her. But Ben always said No, it was too great a risk. He was always passionately concerned for Rey's safety, which always swung from cute to annoying in Rey's mind. She was a strong woman, who valued her independence. And yet at the same time, she had come to accept that there was a softness in her that yearned for the protection of a partner. A soulmate. For her, Ben was that soulmate, and she thanked every lucky star in the galaxy all over again that Ben felt the same.

Sometimes, in a disbelieving daze, Rey would remind herself that Ben loved her. Her response to this was sometimes giddy. Other times, she would ask in anguished amazement how that could be. The latter reared its head in her now, as she dressed in front of the mirror Ben had brought back to her from Yavin 4 as a gift. Sand and dust particles had already made the mirror quite grimy, but that did not influence Rey's reflection in it, at least to her mind. And as she took herself in now, Rey found herself wanting. Small breasts. A still waifish, but at least not malnourished, form. Certainly, her body did not appear particularly appealing - a state that left her crestfallen, especially in light of the strange dreams she had been having of Ben... dreams that would make her rub her thighs together in desperate need, until she would awaken to juices staining her underwear and the bedclothes. And a lightheaded feeling of want. What the want was she could not quite articulate, and a part of her was scared of finding out. But then she would feel, through the Force, Ben's kinship. His love...

A love that moved her now to weep, tears streaming down her face.

"Get the astromech extracted for Mr. Solo..."

The voice carried up the gangplank and made Rey spin around, every nerve alight with relief. Solo... he was back. The Force told her so. Finished dressing, Rey flew down the gangplank and pelted across the sand.

That was when she saw him, raven curls bouncing along his handsome head as he broke into a run to meet her. Eyes wild, Rey leapt into his arms and he caught her.

Their lips crashed together with a fierceness that made them both shudder and groan. Closing her eyes, Rey opened his mouth to hers, moaning, sobs of relief bubbling as every kiss became more and more frantic. It had been at least a standard week since their last Force Bond, and in that time, her mind had carried her to nightmarish territory, thinking he was dead.

Ben now swept Rey away, carrying her back onto the _Falcon_. Well, they more or less staggered back up onto the _Falcon_, their lips glued together. Eyes glassy and filmy, Rey purred with each and every peck, even as Ben grandly set her down.

"Mmmm... Hmmm... Thank goodness you're back... I'm whole again..."

"I missed you, Rey," Ben rumbled.

"I was so afraid," she clung to him even while she trembled.

Ben sent her an easy smile. "I love you," he murmured helplessly.

A sob escaped from her, the tears glistening and refusing to abate. "But _why_?" she breathed. "Why do you love _me_?"

He blinked in confusion. "Because you came back for me. You saved me. How can I help but love you?"

Rey turned back to the mirror, shaking her head. "I don't deserve such love. And not from someone who's technically a prince! I'm small and I'm coarse. I don't know how to be... attractive. I grew up poor, I came from nothing. You said so once yourself..."

"Not another word!" Ben hissed fiercely. The intensity in his voice made Rey's voice trail off with a whimper, her big, brown eyes glancing back at him. In the blackness of his own orbs was something Rey had seen only a few times before in her brief 20 years. It was... lust.

"You're so beautiful," Ben breathed. "Can you not comprehend, how beautiful you are?" He stepped closer, running his hands along her arms as he took her in. "Rey..." and he laughed nervously. "I've never been one with words, you know, but..."

"It's no good..."

"Sssh..." His finger silenced her, coming to rest on her lips. "When I'm with you... I'm liable to lose control of myself..." And sweeping Rey into his arms, he kissed her desperately; he could taste the salt of her tears on her mouth. Throwing her arms about him, Rey kissed him back.

"Mmm... Hmmm..." Rey purred as Ben now moved to kiss her face, her jawline, dipping his face low to attack her neck. Rey felt her breasts stir against him. Her eyes fluttered shut and she tilted her head back to grant him better access.

Then, all at once, she felt his lips somewhere else. He was suckling at her boob, licking at the nipple through her clothes.

"Wha...?" Her eyes popping open, she saw Ben sucking at her breast and panicking, she squirmed away. "No!" she yelped.

Ben's face collapsed into contrition immediately. "I'm sorry! I should have asked permission, I didn't mean to frighten you!"

Rey's body relaxed, even if the fear didn't leave her face. "It's OK. But... but we have to be careful! If two people remove all their clothes and love each other, they could make a baby."

Ben now looked deeply confused. "Rey..." he asked slowly. "What do you know about... making love?"

"What I just said," Rey blinked. She almost recited it. "When a man and woman love each other very much, and touch each other without clothes, they make a baby."

Ben frowned. "Amazing. Every word of that sentence was wrong." Rey's brow furrowed with embarrassment, as she recalled Ben's uncle echoing almost those same words. Ben corrected himself. "Well, technically, not wrong, just... incomplete."

"But... but what if I get pregnant?"

"How?" Ben frowned. "It's impossible from what I just did." He shook his head in disbelief. "You really don't know how this works?" The regret over his phrasing was immediate and a pang went through his chest as Rey's face crumpled. Of course she didn't know. Who would have taught her? Other traders at Niima Outpost, perhaps, and Ben felt a shivering relief that that had clearly never come to pass. The thought of Rey being raped or otherwise taken advantage of made Ben nearly shake with rage. Rey was literate, but in manners of ship maintenance and survival. Not biology. Clearly, there would have been no books on biology on the ruined Star Destroyers she scavenged. "Rey," he said gently, "a woman can't become pregnant unless a man ejaculates sperm from his penis inside her vagina." Suddenly, maddeningly, inspired, Ben moved to pull his pants down.

"Ben, what are you... Oh!" Rey gasped and both hands went to her mouth in astonishment, as Ben revealed himself to her. She had never seen a man's penis before. It was... big. Red and angry and throbbing. "You're... you're not normally like that, are you?"

Smiling, Ben shook his head No. "An erection is just what happens when blood has rushed to the penis, making it harder and thicker. It's what happens when men are aroused. When I'm... aroused by you. You are always the thought that leads to this."

Rey turned her face away, trying to hide her smile and blush. "I'm... I'm a bit... flattered," she stammered out. Facing him again, her eyes growing curious, she hesitantly reached out a hand, then retracted it back. "Can I...?"

Ben's irises were black as night. "Please," he croaked.

Rey's fingers lightly danced over Ben's engorged tip. "This could get me pregnant," she marveled in a whisper.

Ben let out a hiss. "Put your mouth on it," he gasped without thinking.

"Wh... what?"

"Taste me, please! Rey..."

Brown orbs wary, Rey slowly sank to her knees before him. Slowly, rearing forward, she took him in her mouth.

She had to open wide to accommodate him, and his tip quickly touched the back of her throat. Slowly, her lips began to move. Suckle. Ben began to roll his hips so that he wiggled inside of her mouth.

"Yes... yessssss..." he hissed. Growing more confident as she worked, Rey lolled her tongue out to lick the upper reaches of his shaft.

"Fuck, Rey!" He came way too fast, and he hadn't meant to. Rey's eyes bulged in surprise but she gamely gulped down all he released to her. She finally extracted herself, watching as his stalk softened. Slowly, she rose to her feet.

"I want to please you," Ben sighed, sounding almost pathetic. Rey shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"If... if you'd like," she consented. "What... what do you want to do?"

"Whatever you want," he told her softly.

"You pick. I... I'm still new at this. I don't know how it works."

"I'd like to make love to you," Ben said softly. "Be inside you. I know you're scared about getting pregnant, but I have protection." Opening a nightstand drawer beside their bed, he pulled out the rubbers he had stored, on the chance that someday, they would be intimate. "See?"

"Not at all. How does it work?"

He chuckled. "It fits... over me so no semen can escape."

"And I can't get pregnant," Rey finished. "Just like your hand and your mouth couldn't get me pregnant. Right?"

"That's right."

Rey took a shaky breath. "OK. Make love to me, Ben..."

Their eyes charged and trained on each other, Rey sank back onto the bed with Ben clambering on top of her. Their mouths came together in a searing kiss. Soon, Ben was cupping her breasts, touching her everywhere. And Rey's hands were rummaging around his body. She squirmed against him, showing him what she liked. Slowly, the couple undressed each other.

Rey and Ben paused to gaze into each other's eyes. "This will hurt a little," Ben warned her softly.

Rey gulped. "I still want to feel it. What it's like. I'll be all right."

Ben studied her for a moment, then nodded once, satisfied. "I love you," he whispered. Then he gradually pushed inside of her.

Rey arched against him, letting out a tiny whimper. Once down to the hilt and feeling her completely stretched, Ben paused and waited.

"OK," Rey breathed. "I... I feel better now."

Still, Ben was tender as he began to move about inside her. His cock twitched and throbbed happily at every sound Rey made.

"I love you!" Rey sobbed, grabbing Ben's face and kissing him hungrily. "Uhhh... Huhhh... OH! Oh, Ben! I've never felt like this before! Yes, right - Oh, I can't - please, please... I can't stand it any longer - I can't - BEN!"

Rey finally came around him with a happy scream. Ben began thrusting into her faster and faster, mating with her like an animal in heat. Every burst became shorter, weaker, until finally -

"MINE!" he roared as he collapsed, his seed spurting into the condom. The ship jerked into silence, broken only by Rey's happy sobs and whimpers. Ben felt her stroking his hair.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I love you... Only you... always you..."

"I love you, too, Rey," Ben mumbled into the valley of her breasts. "I love you so much."


	4. Chapter 4: Best Friend, Best Brother

**Chapter 4: Best Friend, Best Brother**

Rey rose with the dawn that next morning, beads of sweat on her bare skin and with Ben's naked form cuddled up against her own.

They had had sex many more times over the course of last night. And Rey had absolutely _adored_ it. She couldn't believe she had ever gone without making love to her Ben.

She felt lightheaded, dizzy as she rose from the mattress and quietly dressed, pausing in between to shyly smile at her sleeping lover. More than a little reluctantly, she departed the _Falcon_ and headed into base, skipping through the corridors in a lovesick tizzy and already thinking about when she and Ben would next couple. A happy tune fell into her head and she happily sang to herself:

_"Tonight, tonight, won't be just any night. Tonight there will be no morning star. Tonight, tonight, I'll see my love tonight, and for us, stars will stop where they are. Today, the minutes seem like hours. The hours go so slowly, and still the sky is light. Oh moon, grow bright and make this endless day endless night. To..."_

Her soft singing suddenly halted as she crashed into several of her friends. "Oh!" She almost giggled. "Morning, Finny!" Pecking his cheek, she continued on her way, her friends staring after her in disbelief.

Jannah tsked. "Mmm, mmm, mmm - she's got it bad!"

"What? What has she got?" Beaumont wanted to know.

Rose just grinned. "She's in love."

Finn was the only one to remain silent, staring after Rey...

* * *

Rey had not been in the lab for very long, crafting schematics for the design of her and Ben's future Skywalker Academy, when she heard the door hiss open. A Force presence brushed up against hers, and in the next instant, she felt hands brace her hips. Sighing, she leaned into his touch as a pair of lips dipped a kiss into her neck.

"Ben..."

"Your backside is driving me mad," Ben hissed with lust and he ground his growing erection into her ass to emphasize his point. "We're alone. How about I take you for a quickie over the command console?"

Rey happily spun about in his arms, placing her hands on his chest as they got into a playful wrestling match. "You'll get plenty tonight. Now behave!"

"At least a kiss?" Ben pouted.

She grinned. "All right." Beaming, Rey and Ben embraced and kissed. The kiss quickly grew out of control, and they grew so lost in it...

The door to the command lab suddenly hissed open. Rey squirmed out of the kiss with a squeak, her eyes growing wide with fear as she clutched Ben close.

Finn, Beaumont, Jannah, and Rose had walked in on them, stopping short and staring. Rey blushed deep red and felt immense relief that she had not given in to Ben seducing her for a quick fuck.

The reaction of her friends seeing her and Ben openly kissing was pretty mixed. Rose appeared sympathetic, but Jannah and Beaumont looked deeply mistrustful.

"It's outrageous..." Jannah muttered.

"It's disgraceful," Beaumont added. He turned to Finn, their Commander. "Finn, tell her that it's dangerous! No good will come from her being with him."

Finn was silent for a minute. His entire expression appeared pained. But finally, he cleared his throat. "All of you, back to the hangar."

The others obeyed his orders, Finn pulling the door to as he made to follow them out. But not before Rey got a good look into his eyes to see... understanding there. Sympathy.

* * *

Finn entered the mess hall deep in thought that night. At the end of one table, he spotted Rey and Ben seated together, but removed from the rest of the group. Ben was whispering something to his girlfriend, which caused her to laugh. Then, she happily opened her mouth, allowing Ben to feed her a spoonful of mashed potatoes. Smiling, the couple kissed chastely.

Finn ran a hand over his face. Kriff, he was no good at this. He wasn't cut out to be the General. Poe had been... Poe would know what to do. Or would he? He wasn't sure. It had been quite a heated argument that he left that afternoon in the conference war room, with Beaumont and Jannah objecting loudly.

"You need to talk to her, and if you don't, I will!" Beaumont had threatened. "And trust me, you don't want any part of that." Not even Rose had been able to keep the peace.

Finn had managed to put an end to the matter... for now. He just hoped his decision would hold as, steeling his nerves, he approached Rey and Ben's table.

"Hey, Rey, you wanna take my B-Wing out for a spin with me?" Finn asked. "It's a nice night for it."

Rey turned to Ben. "I'm going for a flight with Finn after supper. Wait up for me?"

Ben nodded. Cupping his face in her hands, Rey gave him a long, deep kiss. Finn averted his eyes out of respect. Rey softly stroked her thumb along Ben's cheek. "I love you," she said softly, her heart in her eyes.

She followed Finn out to the hangar bay where his B-wing was parked. Booting it up, and letting her pilot, the best friends guided the shuttle out of Tatooine's atmosphere. It was a clear night, the stars visible for lightyears around, the deep space empty of asteroids.

As Rey piloted happily, Finn watched her. If he was going to be Poe Dameron's successor, he had better prove it now. Be the General for everyone.

"Hey," his voice gentle as he laid a hand over hers. "I know that people are wary about you and Ben. I've made sure to censor any talk of it. I support you, if that makes you feel better."

Rey was silent for a moment, not even turning her head to look at him as she focused on the stars out the viewfinder. But when she finally swiveled her chair to face him, Finn was distressed to see her looking stricken.

"Do you think Poe would be angry with me?"

Both of them fell silent for a long time, as they mourned the loss of their friend, shot down in the Unknown Regions. Finn found himself seriously pondering how Poe would have reacted to Rey and Ben becoming romantically involved. They would never know, of course. And yet, hard as it was to admit...

"I think he would be, at first," Finn confessed. "But, eventually, you know, I would straighten him out. I can see how the others feel, because I was where they were once. My thinking had to evolve."

"Because Rose made you," Rey guessed.

"No. Not because Rose made me. OK, maybe a little bit," he conceded, when Rey leveled him with a pointed look. "But I still did some of it on my own. And I did it because I didn't want to lose you. You're like my baby sister - and I _have_ a sister." They both laughed as they thought of the fierce Jannah. Finn rubbed his thumb over Rey's knuckles.

"I just want to make sure you are happy. That Ben can take care of you and that you're provided for." He smirked sheepishly. "Forgive me if that sounds archaic. I'm just very protective of you - sometimes to your annoyance. The others are too. But I changed my thinking on Ben being with you. So will they."

Rey suddenly gripped his arm. "Will you give me away?"

Finn cocked an eyebrow. "He's proposed."

"No, I did. Right after we arrived on Tatooine. We're not in a rush," Rey added hastily. "But, someday... we agreed that we do want to get married."

Finn's brow creased for a moment. "You want my honest opinion?"

"Always," she nodded.

"I'm glad you and Ben have decided to wait. For you to be married... you're too young."

Rey gawked at him, laughing a little. "I am not too young to be a wife, Finn. I'm 20 years old."

"Yeah, well I was 20 when my life took a dramatic turn of that magnitude and look what happened."

"What?"

"You," he quipped. They both laughed. "Hitting me in the face with a staff... of all the ways to introduce yourself..." The pair drifted off into companionable silence. Finally, Rey asked again:

"When Ben and I have our wedding... will you give me away?"

Finn smiled. "Of course."

Pleased, Rey pecked his cheek, then rested her head on his shoulder. "I wish Poe was here. He could marry us. Ben might not like it, but I would."

"Ben will do whatever you want," Finn assured her.

"So: how is Jannah?"

"Oh, she still drives me up a wall. But she's tending to the orbaks quite well. Building them a stall and everything..."

* * *

She had found Ben sitting up in bed and studying his calligraphy when she returned to the _Falcon_. Rey conceded that she should have been more gentle when she tackled him in a passionate kiss, knocking his paints and ink quills to the floor in their haste to make love.

Now, after an hour or more of tender sex, Rey and Ben were lying in bed together, naked as babies. Rey lazily traced patterns on his bare chest as she lost herself deep in thought. Burrowing her cheek deeper into his pectorals, she mused, "If we ever have a baby boy, I would name him Finn."

She felt Ben's smirk as he pulled her closer. "Finn, huh? Not Ben Jr.?"

She swatted him. "Don't be cute. Finn agreed to give me away when we get married. At least _someone_ understands."

Ben bobbed his head in deference. "He's a good man. And you're obviously very attached to him. For our wedding, you can have whatever you want."

"_Whatever_ I want?" Rey impishly grinned, lifting her head.

"Name it, my love, and it is done."

She needed no more encouragement. She tackled him, pinning his hands above his head as she swung one leg over to straddle him. "Very well. Right now, I want us to make love. Immediately." Studying their position, she suddenly altered course and flipped them. "And I want you on top."

She watched as Ben reached for the rubber condom on the bedside table. Throwing out a hand and the Force, Rey pushed it away. Sprawling her legs, she pulled Ben in between her thighs and guided him inside of her.

They quickly worked up a rhythm, the bed creaking and swaying as Ben and Rey giggled in between breathy pants and moans. Ben's thrusts soon became weaker and Rey could sense in his Force essence that he was wary of what might come next.

"No..." Ben groaned, trying to pull out. But surprising them both, Rey clamped her thighs around his middle and squeezed.

"Yes. I want to be pregnant by you, Ben. I want your child deep inside me."

"Ohhh..." Ben moaned, and with a final grunt, cum he did, hard within her walls.

They both lay there in sweaty bliss, panting, until Ben pulled out like a gentleman and rolled off of her. Rising languidly from the bed, Rey pressed a kiss into his temple before slipping a bathrobe around herself.

"I'm going to take a shower." Pausing by the door, she posed sultrily. "Join me?"

Ben gaped in response and scrambled to follow her. Underneath the suds and shower spray, Rey kissed Ben lazily, draping her arms about his neck as he hoisted her up against the wall to pound hard into her...


	5. Chapter 5: Happily Ever After

**Chapter 5: Happily Ever After**

Rey paused, swishing herself this way and that as she looked herself over in the mirror. She did not recognize the graceful swan that had replaced the ugly duckling she still sometimes imagined herself to be. In the reflection, she spotted the door behind her opening, as Finn entered the privacy of her chambers. He paused, breathless.

"You look... beautiful, Rey."

Rey turned back to him, beaming. "Thank you, my friend." Noticing the shimmer of tears, she laughed and crossed to him, wiping away the emotion with a handkerchief. "Oh, Finny, don't cry!"

"I can't help it. Stormtroopers are very emotional," Finn croaked.

Gently, she cupped his cheek. "You know, just because I'm getting married, doesn't mean I'm choosing between you and Ben. Or Ben over you. I love you both in different ways, but just as deep."

"But you are choosing Ben to be the one you value most in the world," Finn pointed out.

Rey peered at him bemusedly. "Riddle me this: if Rose, Jannah and I were trapped in a burning building, who would you choose to save?"

His answer was immediate. "All three of you."

"That's not a choice."

"I will make it a choice," Finn said flatly. "I could never choose between my sister, my wife and my best friend."

Rey let out something between a laugh and a grateful sob. "Fair enough." Outside, the wedding march began to play. Finn offered her his arm.

"Madame... shall we?"

Rey giggled. "I'd be honored, General."

Finn gently escorted Rey down the aisle. However, the minute the bride saw Ben, she broke into a beaming grin and nearly ran the rest of the way, dragging poor Finn with her.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold your horses, Jedi!" Finn laughed. "We'll get you to him." Finally reaching the altar, Finn passed Rey off to Ben. Softly, the Jedi kissed the Stormtrooper's cheek.

"Thank you," Rey whispered.

Lieutenant Kaydel Kol Connix began to officiate. "Who gives away this woman?"

"I do... her brother," Finn affirmed. Rey tearfully beamed.

As Connix continued the ceremony, Rey and Ben joined hands. Two smiles were shared. Two pairs of eyes softened. Two lives would be joined. Three heartbeats stilled.

Wait... three?

Rey's brown orbs went wide. "Do you feel that?" she whispered to her fiancé.

Ben's grin could have lit up both of Tatooine's suns.

"I now pronounce this couple husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Rey and Ben embraced and kissed to hearty applause.

* * *

**Several Years Later**

The door to Han Solo's former quarters banged open quite early one Saturday morning, followed by the pitter patter of little feet launching tiny bodies onto the sleeping forms of Mommy and Daddy.

"Daddy! Daddy! Can I go see Uncle Finn?" Little Finn babbled.

"Ask your mother," Ben grunted into his pillow.

"Mama! Mama! Can I go see the orbaks? Aunt Jannah and Auntie Rose promised they'd teach me how to ride!" Amelia pleaded.

"Ask your father," Rey yawned.

Rey's first pregnancy with her son had been a breeze. Eight months after the wedding, she had given birth to a healthy baby boy, whom she lovingly named Finn, after her best friend. The boy's namesake had been moved to tears, proudly stating his influence on the baby's christening to anyone who would listen.

A few years after that, Rey and Ben had been thrilled to learn they were expecting again. Though the labor was much more arduous, Rey had successfully delivered Amelia, a beautiful baby girl with little blonde tufts of hair on the top of her head. This amused Rey and her husband to no end. "Where do you suppose she inherited that?" Rey had asked, nursing the girl at her breast. "Uncle Luke, maybe," Ben had postulated. "Although, my grandfather had blonde hair, when he was a little boy."

"Mama! Daddy!" the children chorused, shaking their parents back to the present.

"All right, all right," Rey sighed, relenting as she rose lithely from the shared bed. "We're up." Taking her pillow, she thwacked it over her husband's head. "Get up, Solo. Our children demand it."

"I'm coming," Ben chuckled, swinging his legs off the bed. "OK, Solos. Let's go!"

And dressing and chatting amongst themselves, the little family exited the ship that was their home to begin their day out in the Tatooine suns.


End file.
